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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Leaf Letter Openers

As makers of stuff our work is often influenced by our surroundings. Fortunately Fiona and I live in a beautiful part of Australia - just outside of Maleny in the ranges inland from the Sunshine Coast. Our walks in our neighbourhood take us through treelined streets - the green after rain almost burns your eyeballs there is so much green growth at the moment. But I diverge - I was going to say that after rain there is often lots of leaf litter on the road. In Treehaven Way there is a lot of leaf litter from Eucalyptus trees. As you can see these are long flat leaves - beautiful slender shapes.

Barry Smith © Eucalyptus leaf on the road after rain
Barry Smith © Eucalyptus leaf on the road after rain
These are the inspiration for my 'Leaf Letter Openers'. Last Friday (13 Jan) I cut and annealed metal for a series of these letter openers. As you can see from the photos below I managed to get six done over the last little while. Long flat gum leaf blades with small curled leaf handles.

Barry Smith © Leaf Letter Openers
Barry Smith © Leaf Letter Openers
Barry Smith © Leaf Letter Openers - detail - blades
Barry Smith © Leaf Letter Opener detail - handle
Barry Smith © Leaf Letter Opener - detail - handle
Barry Smith © Leaf Letter Opener - detail- handle
I am pretty happy with the form of these Leaf Letter Openers now. And as with the 8 Leaf Bowl I like how the brass wire brush has transferred brass to the copper. As usual all are made from recycled metal - you can see some old fold marks on a couple of the brass letter openers.
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13 comments:

  1. Fiona DempsterJanuary 22, 2012 at 7:20 PM

    These are fabulous B - and they look gorgeous all together like that.

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  2. ValeriannaJanuary 23, 2012 at 12:41 AM

    Beautiful!

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  3. Missouri Bend Paper WorksJanuary 23, 2012 at 1:46 AM

    Barry...these leaf openers are just another bit of your genius! Beautiful translation of these natural forms into an object to love! Thanks for sharing....I'm sure you won't be holding on to those very long! Cheers!

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  4. brandiJanuary 23, 2012 at 3:58 AM

    ~inspiration at it's best...a walk through the lane to find beauty laying...awaiting for one to see before it makes its final departure...your eyes see and here you take it and perserve the beauty that has always been and will now forever remain...just beautiful my friend...and had you not pointed out the folds...i would have never known any different...be well and blessings be with you and yours~

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  5. Jo MurrayJanuary 23, 2012 at 4:25 AM

    Leaves are definitely your thing Barry! On my early morning walks I'm often reminded of you by the leaf litter on the ground.

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  6. Velma BolyardJanuary 23, 2012 at 8:13 AM

    the curls and twists really work nicely.

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  7. SooZeQueJanuary 23, 2012 at 8:36 AM

    Barry - I never tire of looking at your beautiful leaves. Bowls/Letter Openers/just leaves ~ they are always so organic and lovely. Makes me want set the shovels aside and just make leaves for awhile.

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  8. CarolJanuary 23, 2012 at 3:18 PM

    Hi Barry, I'm on a catchup of your blog, and Fiona's, and others, and I'm having such a lovely afternoon, reading, and admiring... Your Leaf Letter Openers, your Leaf Bowl, your tiny leaves, all breathtakingly beautiful.

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  9. GabriellaJanuary 24, 2012 at 4:02 AM

    These are beautiful, B. I love how you drew inspiration from nature. Thanks for letting us in on it!

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  10. A mermaid in the atticJanuary 24, 2012 at 4:47 PM

    Gorgeous! OK, I think I might just have to have one of these, if you're selling them!

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  11. Karin LynnJanuary 27, 2012 at 12:30 AM

    how very gorgeous..a true artist for sure....

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  12. herhimnbrynJanuary 28, 2012 at 8:05 AM

    Glorious work. One of the letter openers would make opening the power bill a true pleasure!

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  13. BarryJanuary 28, 2012 at 9:21 AM

    F, VA, P, B, JM, SZQ,C, TT, MIA & KL - hi folks - it is always a good feeling when form and function still result in pieces that look organic and make people smile. Thanks for your comments. SZQ - shovels aside and into the leaves indeed. B - thanks. MIA - they will appear for sale in my new gallery shop which will be launched when we return home in mid Feb. C- always good to have you visit - and I know you love the leaves and bowls - what about the combo of leaves and bowl? TT- yes nature offers us so much. KL - so good to see you visit. Go well and create well

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Comments are welcomed - it is good to connect with fellow travellers.